Falling Fast
by JanneW
Summary: "Cute outfit" she heard a voice saying from the doorstep. Rolling her eyes, she didn't even bother turning around and looking at her sister. "Are you wearing it for Emily?" Spencer's eyes widened and she froze completely, her right hand still in her hair. After a few moments she turned around "wh-what are you talking about?".
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, this is my first story - actually it's the first thing I've ever written - so feedback is very appreciated. Also, English is not my first language, which means grammar (and some spelling) mistakes are inevitbale I think. Don't hesitate to correct or inform me on better grammatical constructions to use. I guess some people don't like that, but I myself, am very interested in improving my language.**

 **That being said, I hope you will enjoy this Spemily story, and I will update as soon as possible !**

* * *

"Uuuurgh", Spencer sighed when the sound of her alarm clock woke her up. She had been studying for a maths test last night, but her concentration had been below zero the whole evening. Of course Spencer Hastings wouldn't really be Spencer Hastings if she would go to sleep without being sure she'd get an A; so she stayed up until three, ramming the contents of her book in her head.

She got out of her bed and walked downstairs slowly, the sleep still in her eyes. Spencer poured herself a cup of strong, black coffee and took some sips with her eyes closed, hoping the caffeine would kick in fast.

When she opened her eyes again after consuming half of her cup, she saw a note lying on the counter. Without even looking at it, she said in a sarcastic tone: "Hi Spencer, your dad and I are out of town for the next couple of days. There is food in the fridge and if you need anything, you can always ask Melissa. Love, mom". She then picked up the note and read it, rolling her eyes as it said exactly what she thought.  
In even a worse mood than before, Spencer got ready and left for school.

* * *

"Hey Spence, what's up ?", Hanna walked towards the brunette's locker as she saw her best friend staring at it. "Why are you staring at your locker ? it's not like your books will get in your backpack by themselves, you know." Spencer turned around and faced her friend. "Ugh I know, just having a bad start of the day combined with a lack of sleep."

"Let's make it a good day again then, shall we ? How about… we skip 'till lunch and do some shopping at the mall ?" Her eyes glinted as she did the proposition.

"I'm not gonna skip class to go shopping Hanna, besides I have a big maths test in a moment.", Spencer answered grumpily. Hanna was just about to give a speech on how maths was less important than shopping, when Aria and Emily arrived.

"Hey you guys!", Emily smiled to her friends.  
"Oh now you can smile ?" Hanna said, lifting her eyebrows to Spencer. The brunette couldn't help it, it's just something Emily had. She never failed to cheer her up. Even when she only smiled at her, she felt a bit better. Now that she thought of it, she had always been more comfortable with Emily than with Aria or Hanna – not that they were any less of a friend than Emily – but it was just easier to open up to her, it felt so natural.

"What's going on ?", a confused Emily looked from Hanna to Spencer.  
"Nothing", the taller one answered, "I'm just having a bad day. I didn't get enough sleep because of that stupid maths test, and my parents left a note saying that they will be gone 'for a couple of days', so I'm all alone again, except for Melissa of course because she's still living in the barn, which I renovated by the way but who cares right ?", Spencer rambled with a very frustrated look on her face.

"Aww Spence, if you want, you can always stay over with me until your parents get back.", Emily laid her hand on Spencer's shoulder and looked at her in a way Spencer couldn't really describe. "My mom won't mind at all, she doesn't like it when you're at your house all by yourself."

Spencer smiled again, Emily was such an awesome person. She suddenly felt the urge to kiss her, which was extremely weird because only one second ago, she was ready to throw her own books across the hallway.  
"Thanks Em, I'd love to", instead of kissing, she went for a hug. Seemed a lot more appropriate anyway.

"No problem, you know I love to have over. How about I pick you up at your house after my swim practice ?"

"Oh thanks, but you don't need to detour for me, I was having drinks with Toby after school anyway, so he can drop me off."  
For a split second, Spencer thought saw the smile from her dark haired friend disappear, but then it was there again, even brighter than before. The brunette shook her head lightly - she must have been mistaking – when Emily answered.

"Oh right.. Toby. Great then, dinner is around seven, see you then!" She said as the bell indicated the start of first period, and made her way to her first class.

* * *

After school, Spencer made her way to a familiar car that was parked on the other side of the street. "Hey Toby", she said as she kissed the driver. "Hey Spence, how was school?", Spencer answered as she got in Toby's car: "Oh just fine, had a big maths test but I think I did well".  
"Well ? Knowing you, you probably aced that test", Toby laughed, "So where do you want to go ? I could also take you out to dinner if you want, the appointment I normally had this evening got cancelled."  
Spencer smiled, it had been a while since she had a proper date with her boyfriend. She almost answered him that she'd love to, when she remembered she was going to stay at Emily's. "Oh I really would love to but I'm staying at Em's so I should probably eat dinner with them tonight. I don't wanna be rude."

"You're staying at Emily's ? Howso ?", Toby asked with a puzzled look on his face.  
"Yeah, my parents are gone for a few days and she proposed to stay with her so I'm not home alone with Melissa – What's wrong ?"  
Toby was looking at her with a frown, "Nothing", he said while parking at The Brew, "just that if you'd have told me, I could've maybe stayed over for some time. Then you wouldn't be alone and we got to be together, which normally is difficult since your parents don't really like having me around."

 _Shit_ , Spencer thought as they got out of the car, _it's true, why didn't I think of this ?_ "I'm sorry Toby, you're right it would've been perfect. I just didn't really think about it when Em said I could stay with her."  
"You, can tell her now, I'm sure she'll understand.", Toby said hopefully.

The brunette considered this for a moment, while Toby went to order coffee. _I'd really like to have some alone time with Toby, now that my parents aren't there to get him out of the house the minute he gets in. But I said to Emily I'd stay with her, she has already informed her mom so it would be kinda rude not to show up. Besides, I like spending time with Em too, it's been a while since we had some girl talk. And now that she thought about it, she actually felt more like having fun with Emily than going out with Toby. Toby'll understand, there is plenty of time to go out with him in the future. Better not really mention the last part, though._  
"I'm sorry Toby, I can't do that. Her mom knows I'm coming and besides, I've also promised Em that I'd help with some projects." The lie came out before she even thought about it, and she stood perplexed for a moment.

"Mh, okay", Toby sighed, "I'll drop you off at her place after you got your stuff then". Spencer leaned in and kissed her boyfriend passionately. "I love you.", Toby said after they let go.

"I love you too."


	2. Chapter 2

**_Now would you look a that_ , Chapter 2 is already here ! This will kind of be a unicum though, 2 chapters in 2 days; I just happened to be sick today, and to be honest I already wrote a big part of this chapter before. But I will try to get Chapter 3 up asap !  
Hope you enjoy ! **

* * *

"Are you seeing anyone at the moment actually ?", she asked her shorter friend while walking through the hallway. The brunette took a moment to reply: "oh.. uhm - no, there is no one at the moment."

"You sure ?", the taller one laughed, "you seem like you really have to think about that".  
"No I was just dreaming and it took a moment before I realised you asked a question, what about you, are you seeing someone ?", she quickly replied to get off the subject.  
"Nah"  
"But you are interested in someone", the brunette said with a cheeky smile. She knew her friend well enough to see that she was hiding something. "Come on, tell me"

"Hey you guys!", Emily smiled very relieved that she saw Spencer and Hannah.  
"Oh now you can smile ?" Hanna said, lifting her eyebrows to Spencer.  
Emily was confused, _did Hanna just really say what I think she said ? Did Spencer smile because she saw me ?_ "What's going on ?"

When she heard that Spencer would be all alone in her house, she didn't hesitate to invite her over for a couple of days. Emily couldn't resist laying her hand on Spencer's shoulder to comfort her. Her head went blank for a second as she touched her best friend; she looked up in her eyes and felt a stream of warmth flowing through her. After a moment, she realised that it was really not okay to look at your friend as if you are in love with her, and diverted her eyes. _Hopefully no one saw that._

Spencer then hugged her, and Emily felt really weak in her knees. _Was this something ? Spencer never really hugged her friends… And did she just say that she'd love to stay with me? She'd love to ? I should probably make clear that I really love to have her over as well. She has to know that._

"How about I pick you up at your house after my swim practice ?"

"Oh thanks, but you don't need to detour for me, I was having drinks with Toby after school anyway, so he can drop me off."  
Emily felt the warm feeling that had been building up in her chest for the past few minutes, disappear faster than a blink of the eye. _Oh my god, who am I fooling. This is ridiculous._ She quickly got herself together and set up an even bigger smile to hide that feeling as if someone stomped her in the stomach.

"Oh right.. Toby.", she tried not to sound disappointed, but felt she was miserably failing. Luckily, that's when the bell rang. " _Thank god_ ", she thought as she said goodbye to her friends and left for first period.

* * *

While sitting in class, Emily sighed and shook her head. What was she thinking ? how could she just ignore the fact that Spencer was seeing Toby, _god._ She tried to remember when it started, the crush on her best friend. It hadn't always been there, _right_?  
Aria, Hanna and Spencer and her were all just best friends in the beginning. Although Emily must admit that her band with Spencer was always a bit different. They understood each other on a different level, a next level. Of course she could see when Aria or Hanna were dealing with something, but with Spencer she didn't even need words to put her finger on _what_ was bothering her.

" _That has nothing to do with romantic feelings though._ ", she argued with herself, " _If I was crushing on Spencer at the time, I'd never been able to be with Maya, I loved Maya"_.That made sense. It was Maya who triggered something inside her, that made her realize she liked the girls. Well, she had been confused about it before, but Maya really made her see that the confusion was just fear, and that there was nothing to be afraid of.

Emily smiled at the thought of Maya. She had been so in love with her that she didn't _come_ out of the closet, but _fell_ out, right on her face. And although she had some scratches and it hurt, she was brave and let them heal in the open, instead of hiding them away. Maya was there to lubricate ointment on her wounds so they would hurt less and heal faster. It worked.  
Yes, there are some scars, and sometimes they will remind her of some tough times. But mostly, they will remind her that she's strong, and should be proud of who she is.

"…. Ms. Fields ?"

Emily looked startled up, seeing all the eyes of her class being locked on her. She swallowed and turned her head to her teacher.

"I was wondering what your opinion was about the end of the book.", he repeated friendly.

"Oh.. uhm… right.", she made a mental note that she liked her new teacher. Another one would have been angry for not paying attention in class, but he just smiled at her and waited patiently for the response. "I thought it was pretty good. It was an ending that no one really saw coming I think, and I personally like the element of surprises so I liked the way it turned out."

"I completely agree", he answered, "why would you want to read a book if you already know how it's going to end, right ? Okay, for next week, I want you all to read until page 40 in the next book. We will be discussing it in class."

* * *

Emily was on her way to swim practice when she saw Spencer walking out of school. She stopped and watched the brunette as she headed towards Toby's car. The black haired girl snapped out of her daydream at once when she saw Spencer kissing her boyfriend.  
 _Just get over it already_. She took a deep breath and went to practice.

Afterwards, she decided to swim a few more laps to get her head clear before Spencer would come over. When she took a moment to catch her breath, she saw Paige standing at the end of the pool. A little cautious, she went up to her. It had only been a few weeks since her teammate had attacked her, and they hadn't really talked since.

"Did you need something ?", she asked offensively while crossing her arms.  
"Uhm well..", Paige stammered, a bit intimidated by the girl in front of her – she'd never seen Emily but sweet and friendly. "I-I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for what I did. It was wrong and I was so jealous of you. I know that's not an excuse, but I really am sorry and I want to make it up to you."

Emily was taken by surprise for a moment when she heard her teammate apologising. She wanted to keep up her confident coldness, but Emily Fields wouldn't be Emily Fields if she wasn't willing to give someone a second chance. And besides, Paige really seemed sincere.  
"Why would you do something like that in the first place, Paige ? I sometimes am jealous too, but I don't walk around semi-drowning people. I just see jealousy as a motivation to start swimming better and training more". Her voice was still stern, but not angry anymore.

"I-I know…", there was a moment of silence as Emily saw that Paige wasn't done talking yet, but was having a hard time finding the right words. She gave her time. "I know I made it seem like it, but I wasn't just jealous because you got to be the anchor of the team.", she suddenly burst out.

Now Emily was confused, she didn't know Paige outside of the swimming pool. They didn't have classes together and she barely saw the girl around at school. "Huh, what do you me-", she didn't get the chance to finish her sentence, as suddenly she was shut up by the smaller girl's lips pressing against hers. The black haired girl was too perplexed to move away or to kiss back.

After a few moments, Paige pulled back and looked into the widened eyes of the taller swimmer. "Oh god, I'm sorry", she said because she obviously felt that Emily hadn't been kissing her back.

"I'll just go now", she stammered as she turned around and almost ran away towards the locker room, leaving a completely bewildered Emily behind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 is here !  
** **So someone asked if this story would be Paige and Emily or Spencer and Emily. The story is definitely a Spemily one, but it is going to take a little while before they get together. Paige will be playing a small role, certainly in the beginning of the story, so a bit of Paily is not impossible, _wink_**

 **Also: reviews are really appreciated; I basically have no idea what I'm doing or if it's any good, so some feedback would make me really happy**

* * *

"Is everything okay ?", she asked while laying her eyes on her. "You are being distracted all evening and you're barely talking", she said as her friend blinked a few times to get herself back in the present.

"Yeah I'm fine", she answered, but she knew she was not very convincing. Spencer raised an eyebrow at her. "Em, I know you well enough to see there is something on your mind. Why bother denying ?"

Her friend sighed deeply, _she knows me better than I know myself_. She wasn't really sure if she wanted to discuss the events that had taken place in the pool. Emily decided that she didn't want to. "No it's nothing, I'm just not feeling very well". Somewhere she wasn't lying, what happened with Paige made her kind of get an headache, or maybe it was because she was overthinking.

"Oh okay, do you want me to get you something ? Or maybe I just better get home so you can rest ?", the brunette said, clearly a bit concerned.

"Noo Spence, stay here please", she said way more alarmed than she should have. She saw Spencer looking at her with a questioning face. Emily mentally kicked herself. _Jeez woman, could you fucking not ? You promised yourself to get over her, so freaking act like it._ Emily hardly cursed out loud, but she did it sometimes in her head, when she was angry at herself.  
"I mean", she smiled at Spencer as she tried to get her friend's attention off the little outburst she had a few moments ago, "it's not _that_ big of a deal, I don't want to be a bad host to my Spencie, you know". She sent a big wink to Spencer and smiled playfully. " _I think I saved it_ ", she thought, and she seemed to be right because her friend started laughing.

"You wouldn't even be a bad host if you tried girl. You're way too sweet for that."

 _She's just playing, like you are. Don't even think about taking it as a real compliment, Fields._ "Oh, is that a challenge ?", she crossed her arms and grinned cheekily at her friend. "I can make your life a living hell while you're here, Hastings". _Hastings ? What the hell ? I've never called her Hastings before. It does sound kinda cute tho – EMILY STOP IT._

Spencer laughed: "Using my last name now ? I must say that's pretty intimidating", her signature Hastings smirk crept on her face. "Too bad that I'm known for winning all my challenges, _Fields_ ". The brunette got up and stepped towards her friend, still smirking.

Emily raised her eyebrows and stood up too. She crossed her arms and struck a pose that yelled _'not impressed'_.  
" _Try me_ , Hastings", she whispered as they were only inches apart. That's when it struck Emily how sexual that had sounded, and how confident she suddenly was being. It was the kind of confident she only got when she was flirting – but she wasn't flirting right now. Or was she ? Could you classify this playfully cocky conversation under 'flirting' ? Maybe a little. After all, they were now so close that they could feel each other's breath on their skin.  
Oh what did it matter; whether the whole conversation was a little bit flirtatious or not, she might have had crossed a certain line, subconsciously.

She snapped out of her thoughts to see what Spencer was thinking of all of this. The eyes of the brunette were still looking into hers, and she still had her smirk up, but there was _something_ in her face that wasn't quite right. Emily was trying to figure out what, when Spencer whispered back, in the same seductive tone as she had been whispering.  
"Nice try, but you're too slow, Fields".

Before she could process what the hell Spencer just said, she was being lifted up and thrown onto the bed, only to receive a pillow full in her face. Spencer started laughing hysterically and fell on the bed next to her. "Gotcha ! No one messes with a Hastings", she said fake superciliously.

"Get over yourself", Emily answered as she reached for the pillow and smacked it in her friend's face.  
For the next half our, Spencer and she were engaged in a heated pillow fight. After a while they both fell down on the bed, panting and laughing their asses off. They just laid there and talked about everything and nothing, it felt really good. Emily didn't think of Paige, or her crush on Spencer for the rest of the evening. She smiled as she was drifting off to sleep, _it was a good night_.

* * *

That Friday noon, she was sitting down eating lunch with Aria when Hannah basically crashed the chair next to her, accompanied by a big sigh.  
"Molesting chairs now, are we ? Were teachers not good enough anymore ?", she asked the blonde while raising an eyebrow.

"I'm so tired, I want to take a nap from like, 2 weeks"

"Well you're lucky, you can sleep all weekend."

"2 weeks, _weekends not included_ ", she corrected herself, "I need to have a social life too okay". The three girls laughed.  
"So you have any plans tonight ?", Aria asked Hanna. "Yeah, I'm going to some party Mona got us invited at. Should be fun."

"It sure will be", a voice behind them rose. "Oh hey Mona", Spencer said in not exactly the most enthusiastic tone.  
"Hey Spencer, Aria, Hanna", she smiled widely a them. "I wanted to get you guys invited too, but it's kind of an exclusive party"

"Oh that's too bad", Aria said, trying a bit harder than Spencer to be nice, but still failing quite hard. Mona didn't seem to notice – or care.  
She sighed over-dramatically: "Yeah I know. But hey, I will get you guys an invite to Noel Khan's party next month, and then we can all go out together !" She squeaked in excitement as she made the announcement.

Spencer tried to put up a smile when answering: "That sounds… wonderful. Can't wait !" She wasn't able to cover up a sarcastic undertone, but yet again Mona just ignored it. "Awesooome, okay I would love to stay and chit-chat, but I have to get to class. Hanna, I'll pick you up at 9 tonight ?"  
Hanna smiled at her friend. "I'll be ready !"  
"See you tonight then, Han. Bye girls !", she said as she took off on her high heels.

"I don't understand how you can be friends with someone like her. I can feel my IQ drop the moment she approaches me.", Spencer said while taking a sip of her drink.  
"Look, Mona is nice", Hanna countered, "You just have to get to know her a bit, but you guys don't even try. Only Em genuinely puts an effort in having a conversation with her – where is she by the way ?".

"No idea, maybe her swim practice took longer than expecte-", Aria's voice trailed off as she heard her phone chime and looked at a text she got.  
"Wow, I hope you smile like that every time you get a text from me as well.", Hanna raised her eyebrows when she saw Aria's face lighten up.  
"sorry guys, I gotta go, I forgot that uuh, I had make up test and I still need some things from my locker". Aria quickly gathered all her stuff, ignoring Hanna's previous comment, and basically ran off.

"What's up with her ?", Spencer returned Hanna the surprised look she was giving her. "I have no clue. Oh hey Em ! Where have you been ?", the brunette asked as she saw her friend approaching their table.

"Hey Spence, hey Han. Oh uh, I was just in the pool, I-I wanted to swim some extra laps". Spencer looked at her raven-haired friend with a mixture of disbelief and confusion, but she wasn't looking back – deliberately, or so Spencer assumed.

She didn't buy it. It was a very vague explanation and she knew Emily too well. The way she was not looking at Hanna or her, how she was trying to look busy, and of course the way she said it. Spencer knew that tone, a tone that tried to sound sure, but had a little hint of insecurity.  
She looked over to Hanna, who seemingly just went with what Emily had said, and who was now concentrated on her food. The brunette sighed and decided to just let it go for now – maybe she was just overthinking, and _if_ there was something wrong with her best friend, she'd notice it anyway. If not today, then tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

She couldn't sleep. She had been tossing and turning the last couple of hours, unable to drift off and have a peaceful dream like her friend in the bed on the other side of the room. She sighed and sat up, burying her hands in her face. She knew what was keeping her up, and ignoring it apparently wasn't going to work, so she decided to let her head fill with her thoughts.

 _Spencer._ Of course, this would be the first thing popping into her mind. She rolled her eyes, slightly irritated with herself. _Anyway, something needs to be done about the subject._ But what was there to do ? How much can you do about a crush ? She was one of her best friends, if not her _best_ friend, and she was not planning on ruining it all just because she couldn't get her hormones under control.  
That last thing was kind of an understatement, and she knew it. It wasn't like she only felt sexually attracted to Spencer, it weren't just the hormones. The raven-haired girl felt attracted to her in every possible way.

 _And that's where the problem is_ , Emily figured. It's because part of the feelings she has are being returned by Spencer; only the brunette strictly means it in a friendly way. _Try to tell my brain that._ She sighed again, there didn't really seem to be a way out of this.

 _Paige._ Suddenly that name popped in her head. The second person that kept her from sleeping that night. It's been a couple of days since the girl kissed her, and she hadn't seen her since. Emily found it hard wrapping her head around the whole event: _first she attacks you and then she's suddenly kissing you ? How's that logical ?  
_ she tried recalling what Paige had said to her. Closing her eyes, Emily replayed the event over in her head. _Something about that she wasn't just jealous because I became the anchor, but what else could she be jealous about ? And why did she cut me off by kissing me ?_

That's when it all started making sense in her head. Maybe she wasn't cutting her off, maybe she was answering the question. " _What do you mean ?_ ", that's what Emily was asking her right before she got kissed. Maybe kissing her _was_ what she meant.  
All the loose ends suddenly became connected. The only reason to kiss her would be because her teammate had feelings for her, meaning she was gay – or at least not 100% straight. And Paige wasn't out or something, while Emily was. _Maybe that's what she's jealous about, that I can be who I am, and she's still stuck in herself_.  
It was just a guess, but she honestly couldn't find another explanation for the brunette's behaviour.

Emily decided that she needed to have a talk with Paige. If that was what was bothering her so much, maybe she could help her a bit – after all, she had been there too. Tomorrow was swim practice, so she could try and have a chat with her then.

She yawned, it was time to get some sleep now. Although problem Spencer was still not solved, she finally felt tired and closed her eyes. But as she laid down, a thought suddenly struck her like lightening and she was wide awake again.  
Maybe there _was_ a way to get over Spencer. _  
_It was not an idea that Emily would normally get – she'd even be disapproving if someone did something like that – but she was getting kind of desperate with finding a solution for the whole thing. She knew that her friend would never return the feelings she had for her, and she had no intention in keeping daydreaming about her and trying to pick up signs that weren't there. It would only leave her heartbroken.

 _What's a better way to get over your crush than focussing on somebody else ?_ Emily blinked a few times as her idea slowly grew on her mind. Was she really going to use Paige to forget Spencer ? " _It's not using."_ , she countered herself, _"I could maybe really like Paige. I don't know what she's like, except that she might be into girls. And it's not like Rosewood is flooding with lesbians, so why not take a chance with one of the few possibilities ? Besides, if I end up not liking her, I'm not going to pretend either. That's how dating works Emily Fields. You're not doing anything wrong here."_  
She had convinced herself with that reasoning, and closed her eyes to finally get some sleep. The raven-haired drifted off, content with her thoughts and outright ignoring the fact that she normally would never go on girlfriend-hunt or flirt with random people.

* * *

The next day, Emily found herself quite nervous at swim practice. She'd never done anything like this before, and wasn't sure how to approach Paige. After practice would be the best time. She figured to just lure around a bit and ask her teammate if they could talk.

"Emily, you seem a bit distracted today, your times are significantly higher than normally, everything okay ?", her coach asked as the girl was sunken in her own thoughts.  
"Oh, yeah coach, it's nothing. I've just been a bit under the weather the last couple of days. Next week will go better, I promise." She smiled reassuringly at the older woman.  
"Ah, I thought something like that was up. Just take it easy today then, and make sure to be in great shape next week. Next meet is closer than you expect!", she said friendly, and walked off.

After practice, Emily still wasn't sure what to tell Paige. Her teammates were slowly getting to the locker room, there was not much time anymore, she had to do it now.  
"Hey Paige, can I talk to you for a second ?". Emily had no plan, it was just going with the flow from now on.  
"Uhm, sure", Paige slowly said as she nervously looked around the empty pool. "Li-listen, I'm really sorry about the other day. I shouldn't have ki-", she was shut up by Emily, who had approached her and was now only a few inches away from her. "Hush.", she smiled at Paige.

At that moment, her head was going blank. She shut her mind off, and just went with it. "There is no need to apologize, Paige.", she said as she looked into the brunette's eyes and gave her a flirtatious smile. The swimmer began feeling that confidence again. Last time she felt it was when she was playing around with Spencer – but she didn't think about that now.

"I just wanted to have a word with you because last time we talked", she saw Paige's eyes widen and noticed a hint of fear. Without hesitation, she continued: "you were saying something about making it up to me. Well now, I was wondering…", she let the words linger for a bit before she finished her sentence, bringing her head to the other girl's ear and whispering: "How were you planning on doing that ?". There was a sexy undertone in her voice that didn't go unnoticed by Paige.  
The raven-haired pulled back from her teammate's ear and looked her in the eyes, keeping the small distance between them. She gave her a friendly smile, encouraging her to answer.

"Do-do you have something in mind?", Paige whispered, obviously completely taken aback by Emily's boldness.

"As a matter of fact there are a few things", she whispered back; not completely baffled like Paige, but confident and flirtatious. She looked her in the eyes again, and started to lean in, very slowly. Emily placed a lingering kiss on the smaller girl's lips, and could feel her nervousness as their skin touched. She pulled back and gave her a reassuring smile, waiting for her to say something.

"I was thinking, maybe we could, uh, go out sometime ?", Paige asked when she finally found her voice again.  
"Sounds great", Emily said sweetly, "when are you free ?"  
"I can't this weekend because I'm visiting my grandma, but do you maybe want to go to the movies Monday ?", the brunette asked, a small smile filling her face.  
"Yeah that's cool, have fun with your grandma, and I'll see you next week ?"  
"Thanks, yeah see you !"

Emily looked at the time, she was quite late for lunch now. Quickly she got dressed, thinking about what she would tell Aria, Hanna and Spencer. _Not the truth._ _They probably won't like it that I have a date with the person that attacked me_. _I'll just keep it to myself for now._  
And with that thought, she went to her friends, feeling happy. On the one hand because it all worked out better than expected, but mostly because she felt like she might actually like Paige.

* * *

 **Friday evening**

Spencer and Emily found themselves in the couch, watching a movie and just being lazy. It was the last night that Spencer would be at the Field's house – her parents were coming back in the morning.  
"You know Em, I really want to thank you for letting me stay the past 3 days. It sure was a lot better than sitting alone at home with Melissa watching every step I take". She looked at the swimmer and chuckled a bit.  
"No problem Spence, my mom says you can always stay over whenever your parents are gone. And besides, I don't mind having countless sleepovers with my best friend", Emily said and she smirked a little.  
"Can't argue with that. I mean, who _would_ mind having me over ?", she said, feigning cockiness.  
"God, _you_ are so full of yourself", Emily laughed. Spencer couldn't hold her seriousness anymore and joined her. After a few moments there was a comfortable silence again as the girls returned their attention to the television screen.

Spencer was glad that everything seemed to go better with Emily again. She had been kind of distant the last couple of days. Nothing dramatic, but the brunette had noticed a shift in her friend's behaviour. She clearly didn't want to talk about it though, so she hadn't pushed it.  
Altogether, she had had a really good the time the past couple of days, staying at Emily's. Spencer thought back of the things they had done: they had given each other a 'make-over', had watched a shitload of movies, had an awesome pillow fight…

She smiled in herself as she re-pictured the pillow fight, it had been really fun and in the moment. _How did that start out again ?_ The brunette recalled the first evening she was staying over. She could feel that something was off about Emily, so she had decided to ask what was bothering her.

 **No it's nothing, I'm just not feeling very well", she answered. Spencer took a good look at her friend, she indeed looked a bit under the weather. Maybe it was better to let her have a quiet night and just go home. "Oh okay, do you want me to get you something ? Or maybe I just better get home so you can rest ?"  
"Noo Spence, stay here please", her eyes widening with – could it be – fear ? What was going on ? A bit confused she looked a Emily, who was now suddenly smiling again.**

" **I mean, it's not** _ **that**_ **big of a deal, I don't want to be a bad host to my Spencie, you know". She sent a big wink to her friend as she said that. "** _ **She was just messing with ya"**_ **, Spencer thought as she analysed the swimmer's behaviour. "** _ **And she really got me, too !"**_ **, she started laughing, mostly because she had been worrying for nothing again.  
"You wouldn't even be a bad host if you tried girl. You're way too sweet for that." **

**A grin crept on Emily's face as she crossed her arms. "Oh, is that a challenge ? I can make your life a living hell while you're here, Hastings".** _ **Hastings ?**_ **She couldn't help but laugh.** _ **She's never called me like that before**_ **, and hearing it gave her a weird feeling that she couldn't describe. She** _ **liked**_ **it in some kind of strange way she didn't understand – but at that moment she didn't really care.  
"Using my last name now ? I must say that's pretty intimidating". Emily was challenging her, and she was glad to accept the fight. Spencer stepped towards her friend. "Too bad that I'm known for winning all my challenges, **_**Fields**_ **".**

 **She wasn't giving in – yet, or so Spencer wanted to believe – because she stood up as well and went to stand right in front of her, with almost an Hastings amount of confidence and cockiness. "** _ **Try me**_ **, Hastings", she whispered in her ear in the most seductive tone she had ever heard.  
** _ **Wow that was hot.**_ **It crossed her mind before she could do anything about it. Then she felt a tickling sensation between her legs, just very short.** _ **What the hell is this ?**_ **She needed to process it for a moment. The brunette tried to keep her smirk up, which was fairly difficult because her mind was freaking out over the fact that she actually had thought out loud – if that's a thing – that Emily was being hot. And then that tickly feeling she had had for a moment.**

 **As soon as it all came, it was gone too. Spencer reassured herself that is was nothing – Emily was just playing around – and decided it was time to end this game, with a victory from her side, of course.  
"Nice try, but you're too slow, Fields".**

And that's when their famous pillow fight begun, she recalled. Thinking back of the whole situation, she felt kind of uncomfortable. Spencer hadn't really given her last reaction to Emily a second thought until now.  
 _She was acting weird too.  
Yes, but that has nothing to do with the fact that you thought she was being fucking hot ?  
Normally she isn't so sexy around you so – did you just admit she is sexy ?  
Well, she is, isn't she ?  
Okay, listen here, you don't think that you're friggin' best friend is sexy. They can look sexy or be pretty, but not fucking be sexy. What are you, in love ?  
Stop. This is ridiculous. It was just a fucking moment. Get it to-fucking-gether Spencer._

"..You okay ?", the sound of Emily's voice made her snap out of the argument in her head. "Yeah I'm fine, why ?", she tried to sound casual.  
"Because you're still staring at the TV screen even though I shut it off 5 minutes ago.", she shot a smile at her friend.  
"OH.. I guess I was just sunken in thoughts. I'm gonna go to bed anyways, it's kinda late."  
"Yeah you're right, it has been an exhausting week."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello there, I wanted to thank the 2 guests that dropped a review in regard to Emily getting Spencer jealous. You gave me an idea for the plot, and I certainly will use it, you'll see !  
If you read this story and you think of stuff that would be cool, don't hesitate to let me know, my imagination has it's limits, too ;)  
**

 **Furthermore, I'm glad to present you a new chapter !**

* * *

She took a look at her clock. 6:54. She tried to get comfortable again, it was still too early to get ready for school. But the nerves took over her body and refused to let her relax. This was no use. She decided to get up and make herself a cup of coffee.  
After adding milk and sugar, she sat down at the table and sighed. She had to survive a whole day pretending everything was normal, and without someone she could vent to. _Maybe I should've told them about the date… Or at least Spencer, she always supports me._ It wasn't too late, maybe she could call her and ask her for a ride to school and then she could talk about her date and- _stop_ , she cut herself off. _Are you forgetting the reason you have a date in the first place ?_ Knowing Spencer, she'd have a shitload of questions as to why she suddenly has a date with Paige – and she couldn't blame her.  
So what was she supposed to tell her best friend ? "Oh yeah lol she like kissed me last week, which I didn't tell you by the way, and anyways I was just like kay this is cool because I wanna to get over this major crush I have on you so I was like, hey Paige let's go out or something and she was like okay and now we're here ya know". _Yeah. Let's not._ She had no other choice than to just suck it up and survive the day. _Just concentrate on other things, you'll be fine._

Arriving at school, she went to her locker and grabbed the stuff she needed for first period. "Hey", she jumped a little upon hearing the voice behind her and turned around nervously.  
"Hi, Paige", she was glad seeing her, but they were in the middle off the hallway, so one of the girls could just show up and see her talking to her former attacker. That was certainly not what she wanted.  
"Are you okay ?", she asked, catching Emily's eyes roaming through the hallway.  
"Yeah sure", she smiled at Paige's genuine concern and rested her eyes on the swimmer, "What's up ?"  
"Just wanted to ask what time fits for you for tonight, if uhm, we're still on of course.", she started blushing and quickly looked at her shoes. Emily couldn't help but finding the brunette's shyness adorable. "Of course we're still on, how does 8 sound for you ?". She saw Paige's head lift as the girl let out a sigh of relief. "Maybe I can pick you up ?", she added, looking into her eyes.  
"Oh, yeah that would be nice, I mean if it's not a burden or anything.."  
"No no, I'd like to", Emily flashed her a smile. Then she realised that she was still standing in the middle of the hallway with her, and even though she enjoyed talking to Paige, she really didn't want to 'get caught' by her friends. "Listen, I gotta run, I'll see you tonight ?"  
"Yeah all right, see you tonight !". She flashed the brunette one last smile before turning around and walking to the first class of the day.

A few moments later, she almost got a door swung in her face as a tiny brunette opened a class door and rushed into the hallway. "What the – Aria ?", Emily asked confused as she recognised her friend's clothing. The brunette turned around with a face as if she was just caught doing something forbidden, but she quickly regained composure when she saw that it was Emily who called her. "Hi Em, good to see you ! Don't we have first period together ? We should go to class". She grabbed the swimmer's arm and basically pulled her forward.  
"Whoa Ar, calm down, we still have like 5 minutes until first period. Why are you so rushed ? I mean, you basically threw a door in my face just a minute ago." Aria loosened her grip on her friend's arm and started walking more slowly. "Really ? Whoops, I didn't realise that, I'm sorry Em", she chuckled a little and suddenly seemed a lot more relaxed than before. "I just thought I was running late, but it looks like the clock was five minutes off."  
"What were you doing in an empty classroom anyway ?", she thought the situation was a bit suspicious, and was hoping to catch Aria off guard. After all, she had been acting a bit weird at school lately.

"Oh nothing special", she shrugged, "I forgot my pencil case in a classroom the other day and I was just retrieving it.". That was a very reasonable explanation. _It's not because you are hiding things that someone else is, too._ Emily guessed the whole Paige thing was making her suspicious about unnecessary and innocent events, like this. She decided to let it go and hit another topic.

"So do you also have that substitute teacher for English ? You know, the one that's replacing Mr. Thomas ?". For some reason, she had caught Aria off guard _now_ , the brunette didn't really know what to say for a moment.  
"uh, yeah, I think so, why ?", she said a bit defensively, with a slight alarmed look in her eyes, which Emily didn't really notice.  
"Oh no reason, I had him last week and he was really friendly. He could've sent me out but didn't, I like him."  
Aria felt visibly uneasy now, but her friend wasn't looking at her, so she didn't notice. "Y-yeah, uhm, I guess he's fine". Their conversation was cut short by the bell. They took a seat and turned their attention to the teacher.

* * *

"I missed you this morning at the lockers", she said as she approached the lunch table where Emily and Hanna sat.  
"Oh yeah, I was a bit early and then ran into Aria. Something up ?", she answered, refusing to look Spencer in the eye.  
"I wanted to ask if you felt like studying together tonight, for that chemistry test we have tomorrow ?".  
They studied a lot together lately. Sometimes at her place, sometimes at Emily's. It started out as just Spencer helping her friend study, but it turned out into sessions where they would both just study in silence, enjoying each other's company. It was fun, and they actually really got better grades when they studied together – well at least Emily did, since Spencer's grades couldn't get any better. It even had become a habit to study for tests they had together, like chemistry.  
"Oh right, I completely forgot about that test !", Emily slammed her hand against her forehead, "but I can't tonight, I'm sorry Spence, I've got some things going on."  
Even though she was still not looking at her in the eye – for whatever reason – she could still see the swimmer was a bit upset about it; and honestly, she was, too. Studying together maybe wasn't just a habit, but more like a ritual.  
"Oh", she answered with disappointment in her voice, "that's okay, next time then."

"What's this ?", Hanna came in between, "Em, you guys _love_ studying together. I mean, I don't see the fun in breaking your brains together, but you guys clearly do. Anyway, what's suddenly more important than that ?". Spencer looked at Hanna, it was the question she had on her mind too, but she was glad the blonde had said it out loud.

Now, Emily for sure didn't want to look either of them in the eyes. She played with her food while coming up with and answer. "I-I really am sorry, I just really forgot about the test and already made plans."  
"Plans ? As in plans with someone ? As in a _date_?", they both saw Emily's cheeks reddening and knew Hanna was right. Emily had a date.  
"No, no, no", she said quickly, "look, my mom set me up with someone from her work. I promised to get a coffee with her, but I don't know her or something."  
Hanna smirked, "so it's a date".  
"Uhm, I guess."

"Why would you keep that from us, though ?", Spencer asked trying to catch Emily's gaze. She didn't really understand. She was – and surely Hanna and Aria were as well – happy for Emily, it had been a while since she dated someone, and it would do her good, for sure.  
The raven-haired finally locked eyes with her. "It's just a date, I mean, if things don't work out, that's the end of it. I didn't want to bother you guys for nothing. I was going to tell you if there was a chance for a second date", she explained.

Hearing Emily talk about a second date made Spencer get a mixture of feelings. For some reason she didn't want Emily to go on a second date with anyone, which was ridiculous. She quickly shoved that feeling aside and tried to be enthusiastic about the revelation, which more difficult than she anticipated. While the brunette was still struggling with her thoughts, Hanna spoke up.  
"Em, we don't care if it would only be one date. You know you can talk to us about anything, even stuff that you think is stupid."  
"Exactly", Spencer added, her mind relatively organized, "don't you ever think you're bothering us. We're your best friends, if you have a problem, we all have a problem."

Emily slipped a small smile, even though she still seemed a bit embarrassed. "Thanks guys".  
"That's what friends are for", Hanna said matter-of-factly, "just make sure we get all the details".

* * *

She changed her outfit for the thousandth time that evening and stood before the mirror, contemplating. Black skinny jeans, ripped on the knees, a black top and a black-red checkered shirt. On her feet she had red All Stars _. Is this too casual for a first date ? Maybe I should wear a dress and heels ?  
No, it's not like you're going to dinner. You don't wear a dress for a movie. Casual is good.  
_Emily glanced at her watch, 7:30. She still had half an hour before she was supposed to pick up Paige. The swimmer decided to use the time trying to get her nerves under control. She fell onto the bed and tried to breathe normal, which she couldn't. Letting out a deep sigh, she closed her eyes.

Immediately, her mind wandered to the memory of that noon. She hated herself for lying to the girls. Why was it that they always had to lie anyway ? Not only her, but Aria, Spencer and Hanna as well. It was like they just couldn't live a normal life, for some reason they always had to lie to parents, teachers, or even police. But they always had each other's back, always. When one of them suddenly got a call from someone's mom, asking if her daughter was with them, the answer was 'yes'. It was always 'yes', certainly when the person in question wasn't there at all. They didn't even have to think about it anymore, it was an automatism. Most of the time they didn't even know they were being used as an alibi, but really they didn't care, because they always had each other's back, always, and they knew they'd hear the real story afterwards.  
That's why it felt so wrong lying to them. All 4 of them were _pretty little liars_ (well, Emily wasn't as good as the others, still far above average though), but not towards each other. It just felt _so_ wrong lying to people who you know would risk their lives for you.  
Emily opened her eyes again and looked at the clock. 7:52, it was time to head for Paige's house.

"Hey Emily !", Paige smiled when she opened the door. The raven-haired smiled back, "Hey Paige, you ready ?". The brunette took her purse, yelled goodbye to her parents and got in the car.  
"So, what movie do you want to watch ?", Emily asked while driving to the theatre.  
"Really doesn't matter to me, however I haven't seen the new Hunger Games yet, so if you're interested ?". Paige seemed a lot more at ease than earlier today, which she really liked. She'd always found confidence a major turn-on, so seeing the brunette with some more confidence really got her the feeling this would be a good date.  
"Haven't seen it either, so Hunger Games then ?"

Upon arriving at the theatre, they went to buy tickets. When she took her wallet out of her purse, a hand suddenly stopped her. "Na-ah, remember why we're here ? I'm supposed to be making something up to you".  
The taller girl's cheeks reddened a bit, "Oh no Paige I wasn't being serious, you don't have to pay for me !".  
The brunette smirked a little at Emily's embarrassment, "Don't worry, I _want_ to", and shot her a smile.

They sat down, somewhere in the middle of the theatre, and made some small talk. Emily was unbelievably happy that Paige's shyness had disappeared, she was too nervous to be able to lead the conversation like the brunette was doing now.  
After about 10 minutes, the lights went out and the movie started as there developed a comfortable silence between the two girls.

Throughout the first half of the movie, Emily felt a hint of tension between them. It made her shift a bit in her seat, and she wasn't able to concentrate on the movie anymore. She saw Paige's hand resting on the arm of her seat. Would she try to brush against it ? See what effect it had ? But she wasn't sure if her teammate was feeling it too, and she couldn't really tell either. Her eyes were still locked on the screen, closely following the movie, but she too, was shifting in her seat a little bit. Not sure at all if it was a good plan or not, Emily kept staring from her own hands to her friend's, until suddenly the lights went on again.

"Daaamn what a time to throw in a break", she jumped up a little hearing Paige's voice, and realized she hadn't been following the movie at all. Quickly she regained composure. "Ugh yeah, sucks. Hey how about I get us some popcorn ?", she needed a few minutes to bring her mind at ease again.  
"Yeah sounds great, butttt… I'm gonna get it, still trying to make it up to you, you know.", she winked as she took her wallet and followed the path to the exit.

 _Should I make a move ? Should I not make a move ? That's the question._ Emily's eyes wandered over the theatre as she tried to make a decision. She couldn't deny it anymore: she liked Paige. The swimmer felt a bit guilty over her first intentions with the brunette, but the fact that she indeed could fall for her, made it up for a big part. _This could actually work out._  
She felt bad as a certain thought entered her mind again, _I might be able to forget Spencer now._ No. She shook the idea away. This is not the main reason why she's doing this, or not even a reason at all. It was time to let go of the tall brunette. She stocked her crush somewhere in the back of her mind, and started focussing on Paige again.

"Here we go", Paige handed her the popcorn. "You do realize what you're doing by keeping paying my stuff right ?", the raven-haired answered. Her friend looked at her quizzically. "You're giving me more and more reasons to ask you on a second date, which I'll pay of course". There it was, she did it, she had set the first step.  
"Oh, well maybe that was my plan all along", the brunette answered, slightly blushing. Just after that, the lights went out again and they both took their attention back to the screen.

Paige's answer made something stir inside of Emily. She was clearly flirting back, and she took that as an indication, or more: an invitation. She glanced at the brunette's hand again, it was resting in the same place as before, but now her fingers were moving ever so slightly, as if they were calling to be touched.  
Very slowly, she lifted her own hand and brushed against the other. The taller girl could feel her shudder at the touch, but she didn't pull away. Emily brushed against her hand again, only now leaving it there a couple of seconds. Just as she wanted to break the contact, Paige stopped her and intertwined their fingers. Very surprised, she looked up to meet the smaller girl's eyes, who was blushing very hard now. She rested her eyes on her, patiently waiting until she was ready to look at her.

After what seemed an eternity, Paige slowly turned towards Emily and their eyes met, a blush creeping on their faces. At this moment, there was a huge tension between them, but Emily was too afraid to do something about it. She guessed Paige was too, because she didn't make a move either.  
After a few moments, she couldn't take it anymore, her eyes kept wandering to the brunette's lips, and she desperately wanted to touch them with her own. They were still looking each other carefully in the eyes, and Emily started to unconsciously bite her lower lip. Suddenly she saw Paige moving her head forward just a tiny little bit. _Is she leaning in ?_ When Emily realised that she was biting her lip, all her doubts flew away; _she must be leaning in._

She threw all caution overboard and reached Paige's lips with her own. The brunette didn't hesitate to kiss back, and it felt unbelievable. In the two previous times they kissed, there was always one who wasn't kissing back, so this right now, was a first for both of them.  
Emily felt enchanted by the touch, and couldn't help herself from brushing her tongue against Paige's lower lip. She felt how the brunette slightly parted her lips, granting the raven-haired access. The kiss was slow and passionate, as Emily tentatively explored the other girl's mouth.

After what seemed way too short, Paige slowly pulled back. They smiled at each other for a moment, and Emily could see that the brunette was feeling the same as her. They tried to get their attention back to the movie, their hands still not parting.  
Concentrating on what was happening on the screen was fairly difficult for Emily. She wanted to keep kissing Paige, never let go of her lips. It had been a while since she had felt that way. Since Maya, to be precisely. But she contained herself; this was all new to Paige, she wasn't out yet, and messing up by rushing things was the last thing she wanted to do.


End file.
